Features

June 2007 Issue

By Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

IFR Not Recommended

Despite the reasons pilots are warned against certain operations, some of them don’t read the memos.

There were two basic rules I learned early on in my aviation career. One of them was to avoid instrument conditions because I didn’t have the training, even if the airplane was adequately equipped. The other was to never fly an airplane with known deficiencies that could affect the flight’s outcome. This included balky airspeed indicators, as one example, or inoperative radios as another. There have been many rules learned—and sometimes bent—since then, but these stand out. I’ve tried mightily to comply with them. Call it self-preservation.

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